From: Robert Ginsberg [rjginsberg@pol.net]
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2001 3:17 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598
Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
March 24, 2001
To whom it may concern:
I am writing outraged that our federal government is allowing foods
onto the market that have not been adequately tested for safety and,
what is more obscene, that our government is not requiring that food
produces using genetically-modified foods to comprehensively label
the foods as such. American consumers can certainly make their own
decisions about whether they care about the food they eat and act
accordingly. They cannot do so if there is secrecy or non-disclosure
of the contents of their food.
There is an obvious reason why genetically-engineered food
manufacturers do not wish to have their foods labeled. It is because
they KNOW that people do not want GE foods and will avoid it. This
will certainly cut into profits (as it should for something people do
not want!) The profit motive of these food producers should not
affect the FDA’s decision to do the right thing and require labeling
of GE foods. I have also heard that producers of non-GE foods will
not be allowed advertise this characteristic of their food. If this
is so, it completely proves the point that we are being kept in the
dark about our food supply.
Do the right thing. Give us the knowledge we need to make our own
decisions about food. This is the purpose of all labeling.
GE foods should be subject to much more testing, research and legal
scrutiny before they can be safely released into the environment and
marketplace. Labeling is just one of the issues that frighten me
about the way the FDA has handled the problem of GE foods up until
this point.
Sincerely
Robert J. Ginsberg, M.D.